Reconstructing clothes, sewing machines and other stuff...

I love the end of the year, we get to wind down, think about the holidays, stop rushing.. I also love the Christmas projects.
One year along with my family, we made nearly all our Christmas presents and the wrapping, and without spending too much money it was really about recycling what we had already. We made bags, clothing, even a totara chopping board for my fishing mad brother, made out of a huge piece that my husband bought for a table top that we never made. For my husband's family we bought their presents, and his brother and father were a little put out that we didn't make their presents also! Now we won't be making this year, but I have been able to get a whole lot of projects off the ground, but most importantly, finished hehe, (next year is definitely handmade again).

Unfinished Projects

We all have them sitting in darkened corners of the cupboard, preying on your mind as you try and push it further down into forgotten memory by making other much more exciting projects, or try and justify non finishing by taking on mending jobs for all and sundry. However, the thought is always there, "...just finish me and I'll be out of your way forever!" So my unfinished project list consists of:

bags of clothes that 'can be made into something else' .

mending that I have previously taken on and never finished.

and several new jobs in various states of being made up.

Reconstructed/Upcycled clothing

I like reconstructed clothing, or upcycling, recycling, what ever you want to call it, the art of taking a piece of clothing and turning it into something else. I have seen some amazing reconstructed clothes some of the cutest is recycling adult clothing into cute children's clothing, using old wool sweaters for mittens or hats, and the cut tshirts which I love. Some great inspiration I've found are on the following links -
The Crafsty reconstructed clothing forum board Have been a member of Crafsty for a while and love this forum the most.
The Renegade Seamstress Love this woman's website, she is so creative!
Here are the projects I've started in this category and am now finally finishing:
[caption id="attachment_307" align="aligncenter" width="300"] An rather large mens jumper that I finally cut down and made into a sleeveless tunic.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_309" align="aligncenter" width="225"] After: just not sure how to finish it off now[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_310" align="aligncenter" width="225"] After: Didn't get a before shot of this one, but it was an awful (IMO) women's t-shirt that I needed for a one off performance. I cut it down and used a peach coloured binding all around the neck, and sleeves and for the shoulder ties.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_277" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Other bits and bobs: Hemmed four jeans for my father in law, and have a couple of jean shorts and tops that still need redoing.[/caption]